Context: Strikeforce Elite is that story from our first in-person meeting with Stuart in the Experimental Theater. It is supposed to be a video game idea, but I am wondering if I should make it a novel first beforehand. The following monologues were done originally for a role-playing game in the Strikeforce Elite "franchise" so-I-say that goes back to the first game's events, but is told and played from the perspective of the Daniel Millrano. Daniel is the son of the series' lead antagonist Commander Robert Millrano. Robert has unleashed a horde of machines on the world that are specifically targeting militaries and militarized forces indiscriminantly around the world as part of a vengeful mission to suppress mass destruction war efforts in the contemporary. His son Daniel--not previously privy to his father's inner mental state--is horrified by Robert's actions and is now on a mission to help the protagonist air squadron -- the Strikeforce Elite -- gain the upper hand against these robotic armies.
[Intro line spoken from Robert Millrano]
The perilous dangers facing humanity today have left me little choice, and once again, a grave sacrifice will be necessary to ensure peace. At the end of World War II, we had a chance. Treaties and peace-keeping alliances were forged to contain humanity’s lust for violence – but today, those accords will be broken. [981620] It’s a shame really that I must engage in this darkened endeavor in order to protect humanity.
[Monologues spoken from Daniel, starting with the beginning of the game. Only the best included.]
My name is Daniel Millrano. Nowadays, I’m not sure that’s a last name any human being on the planet wants to hear. My father was former Commander Robert Millrano, who used to work for the United Nations Security Council until he abandoned them and started the war which history now recalls as the First Judgement War – a war between the world’s military forces and fighting machines so advanced you’d almost believe them to be from another planet. A conflict which, every time it came close to ending, only got worse with each pass, and each new development.
I never knew how deep my father was involved in this crisis until I set out to learn the truth myself. And when I did, I had to grapple with so much tragedy, so much evil, and so much emotion that I don’t think any other person could handle learning or experiencing. It was a long journey, but a journey that was probably made for the best of reasons. This is my story, my journey of survival, and my tale of endurance from the greatest nightmare in modern human history – the Judgement Wars.
CHAPTER 1:
I always wondered why my father urged me into hiding; why he sent me to practically the middle of nowhere in our country, with nothing more than the comfort of the android Torik for company? In fact, it’s always strange when people try to hide you from the dangers of the world but won’t necessarily tell you what those dangers are. Maybe they’re afraid you’ll make the foolish choice, risk your life and go running off to confront those dangers before you’re ready. Or maybe, you face these threats and learn some really dark secrets; secrets that make you question your loyalties, reveal things about the people you thought you knew, and thought you trusted.
CHAPTER 4: [Daniel was captured but then broken out by an advanced robot warrior]
Information? That’s what they wanted out of me. Well, it seems they got it, and it cost them their lives. The last time I’d ever seen a machine of that size and complexity must have been on a TV show or in a movie. But Torik didn’t seem to know what it was either. Did my interrogation just happen to take place at the wrong time? Had these people and their superiors crossed a line with an even more powerful and dangerous force who had come looking for payback? Or had that machine been sent there to save me from my captors, just like Torik had “orders” to protect me? Were these individuals and the person or organization they answered to the dangers my dad was afraid of? So many questions, but no answers. I only wish my father would show his face and give me a really good explanation for what the hell was going on, because these so-called anomalies and coincidences, they were starting to give me a real headache.
CHAPTER 5: THE DAY OF RETRIBUTION
It happened so suddenly: bombers as big as buildings protected by swarms of advanced fighter craft crowding the skies, battleships off the coasts of numerous nations with their batteries constantly trained on the shoreline, tanks and ground vehicles of various designs rumbling into the middle of war zones whilst attacking random military targets on both sides, and advanced robot soldiers that were clearly the learning type, since everything each country’s military threw at them would eventually fail. And did I forget to mention the nuclear and other mass destruction arsenals of the world’s superpowers? That’s because they were rendered unusable. Whoever or whatever had dispatched these armies had clearly taken man’s desire for nuclear or other mass-destruction options as a quick end to wars into consideration and had used the same computer virus to fry the launch systems. Then according to intelligence,they had sent armies of various machines to guard the perimeter for miles to prevent anyone from manually launching these countermeasures if the site hadn’t already been blown to smithereens. Regardless of what we thought the day it began, one thing became certain: this seemingly unprovoked war with a yet unknown force was going to be long and grueling.
CHAPTER 6:
It took a while to figure it out, but we realized the strategy of these machines wasn’t as simple as “world domination,” or “annihilation of the human race.” Clearly, the world’s militaries were the target: regardless of the country or culture they represented, bases belonging to the armies of various nations were overrun and occupied, strategic positions at home and abroad were openly attacked, and several top-secret black sites and terrorist group hideouts were ambushed and, in most cases, officially wiped off the map with no survivors. By contrast, civilization from the countryside to the metropolises was mostly spared from occupation despite a variety of confrontations being reported in and near civilian areas. The biggest concern at the operational level was the advanced, superweapon vehicles and machines commanding these advanced armies: every occupation or attack was led by a large commanding weapon of phenomenal size with unprecedented firepower capabilities and strong armor that very few heavy weapons could breach. But deep down, I had a small concern of my own: was my father involved in this somehow? When would I get the answers I needed so desperately? And where?
[Later on, Daniel finally discovers with the help of Air Force Major Samuel Andrews -- a close former friend of his father's -- that Robert is behind the attacks.]
People always say there are two sides in the world: good and evil, though no one is ever sure if those terms are constant in their meaning. From what I have come to understand, there are also two sides of evil: those who embrace destruction, hate, pain, the power of dominance and the infliction of suffering as their passionate hobbies, and those who want to protect what they love and feel they are doing the right thing even if they know it is wrong. Maybe my concept of evil is too forgone, too complicated. I can’t even wrap my head around it at times, especially when I ask myself this: which side was my father on? Was he ever on a side to begin with?
…
They call those who seek peace weaklings, incapable of fighting, and a waste of humanity. They believe that fighting and killing is the only way to survive. Maybe a long time ago, that was the rule of nature. I guess that’s part of what prompted my father to do what he did, to commit the atrocities of unleashing his mechanized armies on the world in order to suppress what I’m willing to say is an outdated heresy in this age. Deep down, I could sense my father was broken by such stone-cold ideals and the realization that maybe, somewhere within humanity’s most powerful military forces, those cold-blooded ideals of survival and victory at any cost were being embraced on the top. And in the meantime, all those in our armed services along with everyday civilians who truly wanted to fight for peace and justice were being ostracized or removed from the picture entirely.
…
New world order? Maybe that’s what everyone’s default thinking is when they are confronted with a chaotic event as life-shattering as the First Judgement War. But I’m certain that’s not what my father wanted. Despite the cold-hearted decisions he was most likely making to demolish every country’s military structure and obliterate all the violent organizations around the world, what Major Andrews and the recording files I’ve recovered from my father’s manifesto suggest is that Robert Millrano simply wanted to preserve the world as it was, to prevent corruption and terrorism from silencing the human voice, to be the counteragent against horrifying military developments that had the potential to spell extinction for humanity and all other life on the planet. If a so-called ‘new world order’ meant simply destroying nuclear, chemical, or biological arsenals, tearing apart oppressive agendas and top-secret warfare projects, and preventing powerful and selfish entities from gambling with human lives, among other things, then I’m at a loss to decide who’s worse: my father, or the forces his machines are truly fighting?
…
It’s inconceivable to believe for even a second that an ordinary human being could be so calculating, so coordinated in the way they unleash a terror such as the mechanized one our whole world was currently facing. But I knew for a while, and Major Andrews knew even longer, that my father was no ordinary human being. With the IQ levels he had, everyone who knew him was surprised that he would consistently turn down recruitment offers from entities like the Air Force, NSA, CIA, military contractors and private security firms, and only now do I realize why. I know it felt like every time we got close to victory, my father always seemed to be two or more steps ahead of us. But you don’t have to have a high IQ to know that even the smartest and most powerful human beings on this planet have their limits and their vulnerabilities. And I knew my father was no exception.
…
Isle Delta. Ever heard of it before? At this point, I’m sure you have, but back then, none of us knew about this place. Not that it was just another old-fashioned coverup by the U.S. Government or the Military, but the fact that it was located in the last place on Earth anyone would think a military installation could be constructed, especially one of such scale. From the limited intelligence we had, the whole island and everything within a mile’s radius of it was heavily fortified, capable of defending the site from land, sea, or airstrikes – we even had intel to suggest the artillery could directly counter a missile or satellite attack aimed at the island. And nobody had any idea how many other lethal dangers rested deep within its facilities or what forms they took. But now that our small team and the Strikeforce Elite had a better understanding of what we’d been up against for the past year, we were growing increasingly certain that we knew how to bypass whatever traps and countermeasures were inside this beast. Of course, there were still two questions remaining: how far was my father willing to go to defend his assets against a desperate counterattack if the location of his core base was exposed? And secondly, how in the real world could we possibly get there, deep within the Bermuda Triangle of all places?
…
The Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde once said, “Children begin by loving their parents; after a time, they judge them; and rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.” I hold no delusions of respect and honor towards my father for what he did: launching this insane war, but it has dawned on me in recent years that maybe he had a real reason for fighting. All these destructive inventions he’d created, including the advanced A.I. CONO and the ultimate transforming superweapon VAMPCON, it wasn’t about destroying the world or punishing humanity. It was to save humanity from its own institutions: institutions that had long run on the idea that human lives were expendable or commodities to trade for fame, glory, and their own survival. Those of us who answer the call to serve and protect understand the vitality of each and every human life regardless of where it comes from. But sometimes the higher in authority we rise, or the more desperate our circumstances become, the easier it is for us to forget that sacred fact.
And though the First Judgement War ended after nearly a year of nightmares and the revelation of even more horrific truths, when my father couldn’t be found on the wreckage of his former base, I had a feeling there was more to come. When it would come, however, was up to us: if the human race chose to relax its obsessive desires for dominance and victory by any means necessary, maybe we wouldn’t see another Judgement War. But we all know that such a utopian vision can’t last forever, and one thing leads to another before we could find ourselves facing a return of my father’s machines. For now, we can rest easy and look ahead at the sunrise as the world repairs itself and hopefully builds towards a brighter future. And at the very least, I feel that if the day comes when I meet face to face with my father again, regardless of all that has happened, it will hopefully be under conditions in which I can tell him one thing:
I forgive you.